Sequestration: Education Advocates, Parent-Teacher Organizations Support Murray Amendment to Examine all Painful Cuts

Statement

Today, education advocates from across the country sent letters to U.S. Senators urging them to support the amendment introduced by U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) that would call on the Office of Management and Budget to submit a detailed report to Congress on the effects of defense and nondefense budget sequestration. The advocates also urged Senators to oppose efforts to examine defense cuts alone while ignoring the automatic cuts that would impact middle class families and the most vulnerable Americans. A vote on the Murray and McCain amendments is expected today.

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Murray released the following statement upon introduction of her amendment on Monday.

"As we continue working toward a balanced and bipartisan replacement to the automatic cuts that both Democrats and Republicans agree are bad policy, my amendment will make sure Congress understands exactly how the Administration would enact sequestration if we can't come to a deal.

"My amendment calls for an examination of all of the automatic cuts, not just one piece of them. Sequestration would slash across a broad swath of our federal budget--from the Pentagon, to our border security, to education funding, and to the support middle class families and the most vulnerable Americans depend on in this tough economy.

"I agree with Senator McCain that we need to get more information on the impact of sequestration, but I don't think that effort should be limited to one piece of the federal budget. The bipartisan automatic cuts should be addressed as a whole in a balanced and bipartisan way, and I believe their impact should be examined in full across all areas of the budget they touch."

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